In a surprise move Thurday, new Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe released a statement saying that Louisville is not an option for quarterback Mitch Mustain, who asked Arkansas coach Houston Nutt for a release from his scholarship on Tuesday.
In the statement, released to CardinalSports.com, Kragthorpe said simply, "Due to widespread media speculation, the University of Louisville is not interested in recruiting Mitch Mustain."
The move appears to hint at Kragthorpe's optimism on the issue of whether or not Matt Simms will be a Cardinal in eight months. Simms, the 43rd best quarterback and 146th overall prospect according to ESPN, committed to the Cardinals in the summer, but then told a New Jersey newspaper, "I'm not coming to Louisville" after Bobby Petrino took the head coaching job with the Falcons. Simms' father Phil has said that his son has simply "reopened his recruitment," and seems hell bent on convincing Matt to attend U of L.
Mustain, the top overall prospect in the class of 2005, was 8-0 as a starter for the SEC runners-up, but threw for just 894 yards and tossed just one more thouchdown pass (10) than he did interceptions (9). Oklahoma and Tulsa, where Mustain's high school coach Gus Malzahn has taken a job as co-offensive coordinator, appear the two most likely destinations for the former Parade Magazine Offensive Player of the Year.
I understand that Mustain comes with a great deal of baggage, but so does Simms, and young Matty can't sniff Mitch's jock when it comes to talent level. If Simms doesn't end up coming to Louisville, it will mean the Cardinals will have lost out on a shot at the #1 and #3 (Jevan Snead) quarterback prospects of 2005 because of a spoiled kid with an attitude problem who some have insinuated might not be being recruited by any Division 1 schools if his father and older brother were construction workers, who never even made it to campus.
Obviously I have my doubts about this one.
Feel free to fast forward to the 1:02 mark:
Cantwell isn't going anywhere, and people keep forgetting about Tyler Wolfe who the coaching staff was very high on last season. With that in mind, perhaps the appropriate move now is to start looking at gun slingers in the 2008 class. Louisville will live without a new sideline signal blocker (Will the Agro still do that?) in 2007.